Sahra Sulaiman
Sahra is Communities Editor for Streetsblog L.A., covering the intersection of mobility with race, class, history, representation, policing, housing, health, culture, community, and access to the public space in Boyle Heights and South Central Los Angeles.
Recent Posts
The Women’s March, the “It’s Not Your Time” Doctrine, Urban Planning, and You
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I did not attend the Women’s March in Los Angeles on Saturday. I watched the debates about what qualified as a “women’s” issue unfold at the national level and I just couldn’t get on board. To be fair, though, I wasn’t on board from the moment it was decided that there was going to be […]
Preview Design Options for the Slauson Segment of the Rail-to-River Bike/Pedestrian Path
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In a year that has been mostly terrible from start to finish, it is nice to end on a positive note with happy drawings of how a blighted corridor might be transformed in a deserving neighborhood.
The Arctic Gets Protection from Drilling but L.A. Residents Still Have to Contend with the Drillers Next Door
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Polar bears might be able to breathe a little easier, but neighborhood drilling around Los Angeles continues to be a problem.
L.A. Committee Debates Framework for Sidewalk Vending Ordinance; One Step Closer to Legal
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The authorities confiscated her friend's goods this past Saturday, an emotional Caridad Vasquez told the Public Works and Gang Reduction Committee yesterday.
Controversial South L.A. Housing Project Heads to City Council Today
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Putting on Your “Big Boy Pants” v. Putting Together a Good Project “Let me take a minute to applaud Mr. Price for this incredible project,” First District Councilmember Gil Cedillo said as the Planning and Land-Use Management Committee (PLUM) began deliberations on the fate of the billion-dollar luxury residential and hotel project planned for 1933 […]
“Law-and-Order,” the Resilience of White Supremacy, and You
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“Where do things stand now?” I asked Adonia Lugo as we organized potential discussion themes ahead of this Sunday’s Untokening event. Election results were just starting to roll in from the East Coast, she replied, and they weren’t looking good for Hillary. Perhaps we should relabel the event ‘The UnTrumpening,’ I mused. We were already […]
Metro Asks South L.A. Stakeholders: How Would You Use Rail-to-River Path?
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“They’ve started work on that bike path!” a South Central bike shop owner announced excitedly after noticing mounds of dirt piled up in the rail right-of-way (ROW) at Slauson and Normandie. He couldn’t wait for it to be finished, he said. The Rail-to-River path – a bike and pedestrian path that would cut across South […]
Equity 101: Bikes v. Bodies on Bikes
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“You’ve Been Whitesplained!” “Maybe you didn’t catch that you jumped into a convo specifically about transportation/police issues?” the self-described “police/community relations specialist” and bike advocate tweeted at me. “You’ve been whitesplained!” announced the cheery AOL-style voice in my head. It’s the voice I hear every time I am told by a white person that race […]
Justice-Oriented Mobility Advocates to “Untokenize” Active Transportation Movement
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The Token One He was so glad I had “talked about people of color committing violence against other people of color,” he gushed, shaking my hand. My eyebrows shot up. The focus of my talk at last October’s CalBike’s annual summit had been the extent to which the socio-economic and cultural landscapes of a community […]
L.A. Metro Explores Alternative Rail-to-River Routes Through Southeast Cities
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In thinking about the potential routes the eastern segment (B) of the Rail-to-River (R2R) active transportation corridor might take, stressed Mark Lopez of East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, it was important that the needs of workers, youth, and community members of the Southeast Cities be put front and center. Connectivity to job centers and […]
In L.A., Eastside Sol Engages Community on Clean Energy, Transportation
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In lower-income communities – particularly those where rentership is very high – people often have very little access to clean energy or clean technology alternatives. The organizers behind the second annual Eastside Sol event held at Mariachi Plaza this past Saturday know how important it is for that to change. Such communities are often most […]
Bike Talk: What Bike Advocacy Needs to Understand about South Central
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“What is the situation in South L.A.?” is the question Colin Bogart, Education Director at the L.A. County Bicycle Coalition, posed to launch our discussion of the removal of a 7.2 mile bike lane planned for Central Avenue from the Mobility Plan 2035. Both Malcolm Harris, Director of Programs and Organizing from TRUST South L.A., and […]